Sunday, May 27, 2012

Lamb Chops with Couscous and bread and Spearmint sauce...


One of the best surprises when I came to live in Spain was the lamb ... Known here as "Lechazo."
These chops don't need anything but salt to season because of the quality of the raw material

In this case I've prepared the chops with a vegetable couscous a very easy dish to prepare. Ingredients are just for guidance.

ingredients:
couscous
asparagus
tomato
courgettes
red pepper
onion
Salt and black pepper
Lemon juice or vinegar
rosemary 

Place the couscous in a bowl, add water and let stand while you grill the vegetables adding a little of olive oil and salt. Then add the vegetables to the couscous and season with a sauce of olive oil, vinegar or lemon and rosemary.

Tips: Depending on the size of the asparagus, I usually scald it in boiling water to make them softer and then cut into 2 or 3 parts. After grilling the asparagus and while you grill the rest of the vegetable, store them in a soup plate covered with aluminum foil to allow it ending to "cook" in your own steam.

Usually I prepare this couscous as a main dish to enjoy the vegetables and the ingredients just depend the vegetables I have the fridge...

For more sensitive to the flavor of lamb... in the case that this is an adult and therefore has more grease bread and spearmint sauce , original recipe from Chef Jamie Oliver is a great solution to cut the flavor:

ingredients:
3 parts of spearmint
1 part of bread cut into small pieces
olive oil
vinegar
2 teaspoons of mustard
Salt and black pepper

Chop the spearmint and mix with bits of bread in a 3:1 ratio, adding a little of olive oil. Balance the flavors carefully seasoning with salt and pepper. add the mustard and vinegar depending on taste.

Tip: Normally I start preparing the meal by this sauce to let it rest as the flavor will improve with the time...

Sunday, May 6, 2012

My first Chicken fricassee

As the Free-range chicken  was too big for us and to avoid being a few days having the same meal I decided to try this tasty fricassee...


Ingredients:
Free-range chicken cut in small pieces
butter, 1 soup spoon
margarine, 1 tea spoon
flour, 1 full tea spoon
100 g mushrooms 
2 egg yolk
parsley, bay leaf, salt, pepper, meat stock, lemon 


Melt both butter and margarine in a pan, add the chicken and move and brown it. Add the flour, mix it and add the meat stock ( for this quantity of meat I've used about half a litre of stock). Add a leaf of laurel, the mushrooms and season it with salt and pepper. Let it stew on a low flame. Before serve it, mix the egg yolk with a bit of cold stock and then with the rest of the sauce. Heat it again, always moving it without letting it to boil. Depending on your taste season it with lemon or lime (I used half a lime), add chopped parsley and it is ready to eat...

The Easiest Chicken Soup

An excellent dish if you are with stomach problems or to recover from the excesses of the weekend..there are several ways to prepare it, but I doubt that there is any easier than this. 

Ingredients:
Free-range chicken
1 onion 
Rice or soup pasta
salt

Put the chicken in a pressure cooker, (I usually cut it in small pieces as it cooks faster and is easier to shred), with one onion cut by the middle, fill with water and season with salt and let it cook (the time will depend on the size of the pieces, I would say to leave it at least half an hour). 

Take the chicken out and at the same time that you shred the chicken add the rice or the soup pasta to the stock and let it cook. Then mix it and is ready to eat!

Tip: I strongly advice you to always buy a free-range chicken instead of broiler, Everything you cook will be much more tasty!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

My Favourite Steak Tartar

There is a reason why Jota 5 is frequently in the Michelin and Metropoli Guides, all the products are first quality!
If you are in Madrid I recommend you to try it!

The restaurant has two separate parts, a dinner room or the bar area where you can have the same meal much more informal and cheaper...

Depending on the season

As starter we usually have a Iberian Ham, as here you can find one of the my favourite Spanish brands - Joselito


Depending on the season You can try partridge salad which is completely delicious, and if you are out of the season I recommend you to try a typical Spanish dish, called "rabo de toro" which can be roughly traduced as oxtail


And as always the best for the end... The best steak tartar I've ever eaten... Delitious, exquisite, certainly the best I've eaten today, and they always make it exactly as you like it! more or less spicy and tasty...


Where to Find it:
Restaurante Jota 5
C/ Alcalá 423 
Madrid, Spain
+34 917 42 93 85
Metro: Ciudad Lineal 5
How Much?
This meal cost us aroud 30€/person, you may take this as the average price
In the restaurant it may cost around 50 €/person